Initial I: Saint Michael Defeating the Devil, cutting from an antiphonal
A painted initial from a 1348 choir book (antiphonal) by Tommaso da Modena, held by the J. Paul Getty Museum, showing Saint Michael in a red and blue mantle with wings spread against gold leaf. The picture shows a winged angel pinning a black horned devil with a spear and a sword held high, and a designer could take from its flat gold ground and bold red-and-blue contrast a model for sacred, medieval-style graphics.
